Ch 4: Teacher Training and PD in Mobile Pedagogy for English Language Teaching

Authors

Abstract

Teachers from all sectors, including second and foreign language teachers, are encouraged to develop confidence in their evolving pedagogic and digital practices via the application of 21st Century skills and by becoming familiar with continuing professional development (CPD) frameworks where design of learning is linked to task and technology. A lack of familiarity with task design for Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) on the part of pre-service English teachers contrasts with the substantial body of research exploring its potential benefits. The Mobile Pedagogy for English Language Teaching project, funded by a grant from the British Council Research Partnerships scheme in 2014-15, sought to address this issue by providing a pedagogical framework for the design of MALL that is in tune with the wider world of informal learning outside the classroom. Beyond our research in this project, the first author has worked with European primary and secondary language and subject teachers on EU-funded CPD. This chapter draws upon insights gained from the project and from working with the teachers. We provide examples of adaptable tasks for collaborative, collegiate action research and planning, and guidelines for CPD and training. Finally we suggest areas and directions for future work.